Cigarette filter and cigarette

ABSTRACT

A cigarette filter includes filter plugs separated from each other and arranged through a cavity, a flavor capsule encapsulating a content liquid including a flavor in a shell and provided in the cavity between the filter plugs, and a liquid-impermeable tipping paper and/or filter wrapper wrapped around the filter plugs and the flavor capsule, wherein the content liquid comprises the flavor and a thickener and has a viscosity of 30 mPa·s or more.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of PCT Application No.PCT/JP2011/062251, filed May 27, 2011 and based upon and claiming thebenefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No.2010-125222, filed May 31, 2010, the entire contents of all of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cigarette filter including a flavorcapsule, and a cigarette.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, a flavor capsule is incorporated in a cigarette filterand the flavor capsule is crushed in order to enjoy the flavor of thecontent liquid in smoking or in order to mask odor of a cigarette buttafter the cigarette is extinguished (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI PublicationNo. 7-250665; Jpn. Pat. Appin. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-304856; Jpn.PCT National Publication No. 2007-520204; Jpn. PCT National PublicationNo. 2008-528053; and Jpn. PCT National Publication No. 2008-539717). Thedetails of the flavor capsule are described in, for example, Jpn. PCTNational Publication No. 2008-546400. Such cigarette filters includingthe flavor capsule have various problems.

FIG. 1( a) shows a cigarette in which a tobacco rod 10 is connected to afilter 20 with a tipping paper 30, wherein the tobacco rod 10 isprepared by wrapping a tobacco filler 11 with a cigarette paper 12 andthe filter 20 is prepared by wrapping a filter plug 22 having a flavorcapsule 21 embedded therein with a plug wrapping paper 23. The flavorcapsule 21 has a structure in which content liquid 21 b is encapsulatedwith a shell 21 a. When the shell 21 a of the flavor capsule 21 iscrushed in smoking of such a cigarette, the content liquid 21 b flowedout of the capsule is absorbed by the filter plug 22, and thus the fluidis not soaked through the tipping paper 30 to the surface thereof, asshown in FIG. 1( b). Good usability, however, is not obtained becausethe flavor capsule 21 embedded in the filter plug 22 does not give asense that the capsule is crushed.

A filter having a structure in which filter plugs are separated fromeach other and arranged through a cavity, with a flavor capsule providedin the cavity, can give the sense that the flavor capsule is crushed,and thus has a good usability.

FIG. 2( a) shows a cigarette in which a tobacco rod 10 is connected to afilter 20 with a tipping paper 30, wherein the tobacco rod 10 isprepared by wrapping a tobacco filler 11 with a cigarette paper 12 andthe filter 20 has a structure that a flavor capsule 21 is provided in acavity between two filter plugs 25. A material paper 26 is wrappedaround each of the two filter plugs 25, and a shaping paper 27 iswrapped around the periphery where both plugs are separated from eachother and arranged through the cavity. There is also a filter plughaving either the material paper or the shaping paper, or having nomaterial paper or shaping paper (in the case of FIG. 1, the plug hasonly the plug wrapping paper which serves as the material paper and theshaping paper). When a shell 21 a of the flavor capsule 21 is crushed insmoking of such a cigarette, the content liquid 21 b flowed out of thecapsule is soaked through the tipping paper 30 to the surface thereof,as shown in FIG. 2B, because the shaping paper is generally made of ahigh-permeable material.

In order to suppress the soakage of the content liquid through thetipping paper to the surface thereof, it may be considered to use aliquid-impermeable tipping paper and/or filter wrapper (a materialpaper, a shaping paper or a plug wrapping paper). These materials arenot limited to paper, and may be a wrapping material made of cellophaneor plastic, or a composite material. When the shaping paper 27 isliquid-impermeable, the content liquid 21 b flowed out of the capsulemoves toward the tobacco rod 10 or the mouthpiece end along the gapbetween the inside of the liquid-impermeable shaping paper 27 and thefilter plugs 25, as shown in FIG. 2( c). The liquid is finally passedthrough the tobacco filler 11 in the tobacco rod 10, and is soakedthrough the tipping paper 30 to the cigarette paper 12 of the tobaccorod 10. The liquid which moves toward the mouthpiece end along the gapbetween the inside of the shaping paper 27 and the filter plug 25 issoaked to the end face of the filter plug 25.

This disadvantage can be solved by coating the inside of theliquid-impermeable shaping paper 27 with wax or paste to fill the gapbetween the inside of the shaping paper 27 and the filter plug 25,thereby preventing the migration of the content liquid 21 b. However,the residue of wax or paste adheres to a filter making machine, and thusit is difficult to perform mass production.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a cigarette filterincluding a flavor capsule, capable of preventing soakage of the contentliquid to the surface of the tipping paper, the cigarette paper of thetobacco rod and the filter mouthpiece end face when it is used, withoutcausing trouble in the filter production; and a cigarette including thiscigarette filter.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cigarette filtercomprising: filter plugs separated from each other and arranged througha cavity; a flavor capsule encapsulating a content liquid including aflavor in a shell and provided in the cavity between the filter plugs;and a liquid-impermeable tipping paper and/or filter wrapper (a materialpaper, a shaping paper or a plug wrapping paper) wrapped around thefilter plugs and the flavor capsule, wherein the content liquidcomprises the flavor and a thickener and has a viscosity of 30 mPa·s ormore.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a cigarettecomprising: a tobacco rod; and the above cigarette.

The cigarette filter and the cigarette of the present invention canprevent the soakage of the content liquid to the surface of the tippingpaper, the cigarette paper of the tobacco rod and the filter mouthpieceend face when it is used, by adding a thickener to the content liquid inthe flavor capsule to adjust a viscosity of the content liquid to 30mPa·s or more.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing absorption of the content liquid in aflavor capsule embedded in a conventional cigarette filter to a filterplug.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing soakage of the content liquid in aflavor capsule to the surface of a tipping paper, a cigarette paper of atobacco rod and a filter mouthpiece end face in another conventionalcigarette filter.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a cigarette filter ofExample of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a state in which soakage of thecontent liquid in a flavor capsule to the surface of a tipping paper, acigarette paper of a tobacco rod and a filter mouthpiece end face can besuppressed in a cigarette filter of Example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relationship between a viscosity of thecontent liquid in a flavor capsule and a length of the content liquidsoaked to a cigarette paper after one week from breakage of the shell ofthe flavor capsule in a cigarette filter of Example of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the cigarette filter of the present invention, a flavor capsuleprovided in a cavity between filter plugs contains a content liquidincluding a flavor and a thickener and having a viscosity of 30 mPa·s(25° C.) or more.

In the present invention, if the viscosity of the content liquid is lessthan 30 mPa·s (25° C.), particularly less than 18 mPa·s (25° C.), thecontent liquid is soaked to a surface of a tipping paper, a cigarettepaper of a tobacco rod and a filter mouthpiece end face when the flavorcapsule is crushed. The viscosity of the content liquid is preferably 30mPa·s (25° C.) or more, more preferably 80 mPa·s (25° C.) or more.

In the present invention, as the flavor, for example, menthol andrefined vegetable oil can be used.

In the present invention, liquid thickeners and solid thickeners can beused as the thickener which is added to the content liquid in the flavorcapsule. Fat and oil such as tocopherol, rapeseed oil, olive oil,cottonseed oil and sucrose diacetate hexaisobutyrate (SAIB) can be usedas the liquid thickener. Of these, rapeseed oil and SAIB are morepreferable.

When the fat and oil is used as the thickener, it is preferably used inan amount within a range of 19.1 to 57.4% by weight of the contentliquid. When SAIB is used as the thickener, it is preferably used in anamount within a range of 40% by weight or more of the content liquid,preferably 60% by weight or more.

In the present invention, as a solvent for the flavor and the thickenercontained in the content liquid, for example, medium-chain fatty acidtriglycerides (MCTs) can be used.

In the present invention, the content liquid may further contain otheradditives such as a solvent, a dye and an emulsifier.

In the present invention, the shell of the flavor capsule may be formedusing, for example, starch, dextrin, polysaccharides, agar, gellan gum,gelatin, various natural gelling agents, glycerol, sorbitol, calciumchloride, or the like, and the shell may further contain a flavor and acoloring agent.

In the present invention, the tipping paper and/or filter wrapper (amaterial paper, a shaping paper or a plug wrapping paper) isliquid-impermeable, which means that they are oil-resistant. It ispreferable to use an oilproof paper for the shaping paper 27, forexample, of at least the tipping paper and/or the filter wrapper, whichis directly brought into contact with the flavor capsule 21. Of theoilproof papers, for example, a oilproof paper manufactured by NipponPaper Papylia Co., Ltd. is preferable, because it does not use a film ora fluorine-containing resin. Properties of the oilproof papermanufactured by Nippon Paper Papylia Co., Ltd. are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Basis weight Thickness Tensile Strength (g/m2) (μm) (kN/m)Oilproof paper 1 35 40 3.0 Oilproof paper 2 50 52 5.0

In the present invention, the flavor capsule may be provided in a cavitybetween filter plugs, or it may be embedded in the filter plug as inFIG. 1.

The flavor capsule of the present invention can be applied to chewingtobacco, SNUS, and a non-combustible flavor inhalation pipe described inInternational Application PCT/JP2010/052835.

EXAMPLES

Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing sizes of a cigarette filterproduced in this Example. A material paper (not shown) is wrapped aroundthe two filter rods 25 made of acetate at a side of a tobacco rod and aside of a mouthpiece. The two filter rods 25 are separated from eachother and arranged through a cavity, and a liquid-impermeable(oil-resistant) shaping paper 27 is wrapped around the rods. A flavorcapsule 21 is put in a cavity between the two filter rods 25. The flavorcapsule 21 has a structure that a content liquid 21 b is encapsulatedwith a shell 21 a. Length L1 of the filter rod 25 at the tobacco rodside is 11.0 mm; length L2 of the filter rod 25 at the mouthpiece sideis 10.0 mm; length S of the cavity is 6.0 mm; total length TL is 27.0mm; and diameter D of the flavor capsule 21 is 4.5 mm. In the presentinvention, the content liquid 21 b in the flavor capsule 21 has aviscosity of 30 mPa·s or more.

The production method of the flavor capsule is not particularly limited,and it is preferable to use, for example, a dropping method, because aflavor capsule having a seamless shell can be produced by this method.According to this method, the content liquid and a liquid shell materialare discharged at the same time from an inside nozzle and an outsidenozzle respectively, using a double nozzle, whereby the content liquidcan be encapsulated seamlessly with the shell liquid.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cigarette filter of this Example can suppresssoakage of the content liquid 21 b, which is flowed out by crushing theshell 21 a of the flavor capsule 21, to the surface of the tippingpaper, the cigarette paper of the tobacco rod, and the filter mouthpieceend face, because the content liquid 21 b in the flavor capsule 21 has aviscosity of 30 mPa·s (25° C.) or more. In addition, a filter makingmachine is not adversely affected.

Example 1

Menthol and refined vegetable oil as a flavor, and medium-chain fattyacid triglyceride (MCT) as a solvent were provided (no thickener), andthey were mixed in a ratio of each sample A to C in Table 2 to prepareda content liquid of a flavor capsule. The viscosity of the contentliquid was measured by using a rotary viscometer (TVB-10M manufacturedby Toki Sangyo Co., Ltd.).

Eight percent by weight or 20% by weight of a mixture of starch, dextrinand polysaccharides as a shell material was mixed with 92% by weight or80% by weight of the content liquid described above, and a flavorcapsule having a diameter of 4.5 mm was produced by a dropping method. Acigarette filter shown in FIG. 3 was produced using the flavor capsule,and further a cigarette similar to that shown in FIG. 2( a) wasproduced.

Example 2

Menthol and refined vegetable oil as a flavor, medium-chain fatty acidtriglyceride (MCT) as a solvent, and rapeseed oil as a thickener wereprovided, and they were mixed in a ratio of each sample D to H in Table2 to prepare a content liquid of a flavor capsule. The viscosity of thecontent liquid was measured by using a rotary viscometer (TVB-10Mmanufactured by Toki Sangyo Co., Ltd.).

Eight percent by weight or 20% by weight of a mixture of starch, dextrinand polysaccharides as a shell material was mixed with 92% by weight or80% by weight of the content liquid described above to produce a flavorcapsule having a diameter of 4.5 mm by a dropping method. A cigarettefilter shown in FIG. 3 was produced using the flavor capsule, andfurther a cigarette similar to that shown in FIG. 2( a) was produced.

Example 3

Menthol and refined vegetable oil as a flavor, medium-chain fatty acidtriglyceride (MCT) as a solvent, and sucrose diacetate hexaisobutyrate(SAIB) as a thickener were provided, and they were mixed in a ratio ofeach sample I to K in Table 2 to produce a content liquid of a flavorcapsule. The viscosity of the content liquid was measured by using arotary viscometer (TVB-10M manufactured by Toki Sangyo Co., Ltd.).

Twenty percent by weight of a mixture of starch, dextrin andpolysaccharides as a shell material was mixed with 80% by weight of thecontent liquid described above to produce a flavor capsule having adiameter of 4.5 mm by a dropping method. A cigarette filter shown inFIG. 3 was produced using the flavor capsule, and further a cigarettesimilar to that shown in FIG. 2( a) was produced.

The shell of the flavor capsule of each cigarette of samples A to K wasbroken, and after 10 minutes, soakage of the content liquid to thesurface of the tipping paper, the cigarette paper of the tobacco rod andthe filter mouthpiece end face were checked. The results are also shownin Table 2.

It can be found from the results of Table 2 that when the content liquidin the flavor capsule had a viscosity of 30 mPa·s (25° C.) or more, thesoakage of the content liquid to the surface of the tipping paper, thecigarette paper of the tobacco rod and the filter mouthpiece end facecan be suppressed. In addition, it is found that when the content liquidin the flavor capsule has a viscosity of 80 mPa·s (25° C.) or more, thesoakage of the content liquid to the surface of the tipping paper, thecigarette paper of the tobacco rod and the filter mouthpiece end facecan be more certainly suppressed.

TABLE 2 Test results Capsule formulation Number of Number of Contentliquid cigarettes cigarettes Note Diameter Shell Flavor Solvent ThicknerViscosity tested soaked Type of Sample (mm) (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) (wt %)(mPa · s) (cigarettes) (cigarettes) thickner Example 1 A 4.5 8.0 15.476.6 0.0 16.9 10 8 None B 4.5 20.0 13.7 66.3 0.0 17.7 10 4 C 4.5 20.013.7 66.3 0.0 17.7 10 7 Example 2 D 4.5 8.0 15.4 57.4 19.1 36.2 10 0Rapeseed oil E 4.5 8.0 15.4 38.3 38.3 88.1 10 0 F 4.5 8.0 15.4 19.1 57.4352.8 10 0 G 4.5 8.0 22.1 17.5 52.4 124.1 10 0 H 4.5 20.0 19.2 15.2 45.6124.1 10 0 Example 3 I 4.5 20.0 17.6 14.4 48.0 58.7 10 0 SAIB J 4.5 20.017.6 9.6 52.8 90.0 10 0 K 4.5 20.0 17.6 4.8 57.6 137.1 10 0

Example 4

According to the tests of Examples 1 to 3, the soakage of the contentliquid to the surface of the tipping paper, the cigarette paper of thetobacco rod and the filter mouthpiece end face was checked within 10minutes from the breakage of the shell of the flavor capsule, which wasa usual smoking time. It is preferable, however, that only a smallamount of the content liquid soaks to the cigarette paper of the tobaccorod, even if a longer time elapses from the breakage of the shell of theflavor capsule. The soakage of the content liquid after a long time waschecked as described below. In the following tests, the content liquidin the capsule did not contain any flavor.

Sample L

Only medium-chain fatty acid triglyceride (MCT) as a solvent was usedfor a content liquid in a capsule.

Sample M

A content liquid in a capsule was prepared by mixing 43% by weight ofmedium-chain fatty acid triglyceride (MCT) as a solvent with 57% byweight of rapeseed oil as a thickener.

Samples N, O and P

A content liquid in a capsule was produced by mixing 60% by weight, 50%by weight or 40% by weight of medium-chain fatty acid triglyceride (MCT)as a solvent with 40% by weight, 50% by weight or 60% by weight of SAIBas a thickener.

The viscosity of the content liquid was measured by using a rotaryviscometer (TVB-10M manufactured by Toki Sangyo Co., Ltd.). Thecomposition and the viscosity of the content liquid in the capsule areshown in Table 3.

Twenty percent by weight of a mixture of starch, dextrin andpolysaccharides as a shell material was mixed with 80% by weight of thecontent liquid described above to produce a capsule having a diameter of4.5 mm by a dropping method. A cigarette filter shown in FIG. 3 wasproduced using the capsule, and further a cigarette similar to thatshown in FIG. 2( a) was produced.

The shell of the flavor capsule of each cigarette of samples L to P wasbroken, and after one week, soakage of the content liquid to thecigarette paper of the tobacco rod was checked. In this case, the lengthof the content liquid soaked refers to a distance measured from the endof the tobacco rod 10 in contact with one filter plug 25, to a positionin the cigarette paper to which the soaked content liquid reached. Theresults are also shown in Table 3.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relationship between the viscosity of thecontent liquid and the length of the content liquid soaked in samples Mto P.

As shown in Table 3, in the case of sample L containing no thickener,the length of the content liquid soaked was 57 mm after one week, andthe content liquid reached the cigarette paper at the tip end of thetobacco rod in all of the 10 cigarettes checked. On the other hand, inthe case where the rapeseed oil or SAIB was used as the thickener, thecontent liquid did not reach the cigarette paper at the tip end of thetobacco rod even after one week. In addition, it can be seen from Table3 and FIG. 5 that the length of the content liquid soaked in the casewhere the rapeseed oil is used is shorter than that in the case whereSAIB is used, even if the content liquid has the same viscosity.

When the soakage length of the content liquid is large, a problem thatcomponents of the content liquid penetrating into the cigarette paperare separated by a paper chromatograph phenomenon may sometimes occur.The content liquid containing SAIB as the thickener, however, cansuppress the separation of the components of the content liquid, whichis caused by the paper chromatograph phenomenon, even after one week,because the soakage length is small.

TABLE 3 Length of soakage Content liquid Viscosity (25° C.) Number ofRapeseed Number of cigarettes MCT oil SAIB samples Average testedAverage Sample (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) tested (mPa · s) (cigarettes)(mm/week) SD L 100.0 — — 3 17.7 10 57.0 — M 43.0 57.0 — 3 88.1 10 40.05.5 N 60.0 — 40.0 3 58.7 10 31.9 2.8 O 50.0 — 50.0 3 90.0 10 16.8 6.3 P40.0 — 60.0 3 137.1 10 8.6 2.5

What is claimed is:
 1. A cigarette filter comprising: filter plugsseparated from each other and arranged through a cavity; a flavorcapsule encapsulating a content liquid including a flavor in a shell andprovided in the cavity between the filter plugs; and aliquid-impermeable tipping paper and/or filter wrapper wrapped aroundthe filter plugs and the flavor capsule, wherein the content liquidcomprises the flavor and a thickener and has a viscosity of 30 mPa·s ormore.
 2. The cigarette filter according to claim 1, wherein the contentliquid has a viscosity of 80 mPa·s or more.
 3. The cigarette filteraccording to claim 1, wherein the thickener is selected from the groupconsisting of liquid thickeners and solid thickeners.
 4. The cigarettefilter according to claim 3, wherein the liquid thickener is fat and oilor sucrose diacetate hexaisobutyrate (SAIB).
 5. The cigarette filteraccording to claim 1, wherein the content liquid further comprises asolvent and/or a dye and/or an emulsifier.
 6. The cigarette filteraccording to claim 1, wherein the shell of the flavor capsule furthercomprises a dye.
 7. The cigarette filter according to claim 1, whereinthe liquid-impermeable tipping paper and/or filter wrapper is a oilproofpaper.
 8. A cigarette comprising: a tobacco rod; and the cigarettefilter according to claim 1.